Betty Smith and George Abbot wrote a musical comedy version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn which played on Broadway in 1944. It was produced by Elia Kazan who then directed the movie version, Kazan's first feature film, released in 1945. The movie starred James Dunn as Johnny Nolan and Peggy Ann Garner as Francie. Reviewing it in The Nation, James Agee (with the caveat that he had not read the book) praised the movie for its attention to the details of poverty in the big city while damning it for not taking poverty seriously enough and for playing safe with the Freudian motherson/father-daughter theme. However, Agee recommended that the movie not be dismissed by intelligent people who automatically dismiss best sellers. Joy in the Morning was made into a feature film starring Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimieux.